1. Field
An air conditioner is disclosed herein.
2. Background
An air conditioner is a device that maintains air in a predetermined area in a most suitable state according to a use and purpose. In general, the air conditioner includes a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device, and an evaporator. A refrigeration cycle that performs a process of compression, condensation, expansion, and evaporation of a refrigerant is driven in the air conditioner to cool or heat the predetermined area.
The predetermined area may be a variety of areas depending on a place in which the air conditioner is used. For example, when the air conditioner is provided in a home or office, the predetermined area may be an interior space of a house or building. On the other hand, when the air conditioner is provided in a vehicle, the predetermined area may be a space in which a person rides.
When the air conditioner performs a cooling operation, an outdoor heat exchanger provided in an outdoor unit or device performs a condenser function, and an indoor heat exchanger provided in an indoor unit or device performs an evaporator function. On the other hand, when the air conditioner performs a heating operation, the indoor heat exchanger performs the condenser function and the outdoor heat exchanger performs the evaporator function.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a related art air conditioner. Referring to FIG. 1, a related art air conditioner 10 may perform a cooling or heating operation only, or may perform the cooling and the heating operation at the same time. The related art air conditioner 10 includes an outdoor unit or device 11 including a compressor and an outdoor heat exchanger, a distribution unit or distributor 12 connected with the outdoor unit 11 and one or more indoor units or devices 13, 14, and 15, respectively, connected with the distributor 12 and including an indoor heat exchanger. The one or more indoor devices 13, 14, and 15, may include a first indoor unit or device 13, a second indoor unit or device 14, and a third indoor unit or device 15.
To perform a cooling or heating operation only means that all of the indoor devices are cooling-operated or heating-operated. This operation mode may be referred to as a “cooling-only operation” or “heating-only operation”.
To perform the cooling and heating operation at the same time means that a part or portion of the one or more indoor devices is cooling-operated, and the rest of the one or more indoor devices may be heating-operated. This operation mode may be referred to as a “simultaneous cooling and heating operation” or “co-type operation”. In the case of the “simultaneous cooling and heating operation”, an operation mode when more indoor devices of the one or more indoor devices perform the cooling operation is defined as a “principal cooling operation”, and an operation mode when more indoor devices of the one or more indoor devices perform the heating operation is defined as a “principal heating operation”.
The distributor 12 is a device that distributes a refrigerant discharged from the outdoor device 11 to the one or more indoor devices 13, 14, and 15, or supplies a refrigerant discharged from the one or more indoor devices 13, 14, and 15 to the outdoor device 11 again. The distributor 12 may be connected to the outdoor device 11 through three pipes 16, 17, and 18. The three pipes 16, 17, and 18 may include a high pressure pipe 16, a low pressure pipe 17, and a liquid pipe 18.
The high pressure pipe 16 is a pipe through which a refrigerant flows in a gaseous state of high temperature and high pressure before being introduced to the condenser after being compressed in the compressor. The low pressure pipe 17 is a pipe through which a refrigerant flows until introduced to the compressor in a gaseous state of low temperature and low pressure after being evaporated in the evaporator. The liquid pipe 18 is a pipe through which a high temperature and high pressure liquid refrigerant condensed by the condenser flows.
A structure of a distributor of an air conditioner is disclosed in Korean Application No. 10-2012-0018354, published in Korea on Sep. 2, 2013 and entitled “air conditioner”, which is hereby incorporated by reference. With such a related art air conditioner, there is the following problem. When an outdoor device is connected to a plurality of indoor devices with a single heat exchange portion or heat exchanger, as the heat exchange portion is overloaded in order to supply a desired cooling or heating temperature to an indoor space, there is a problem that durability of the heat exchange portion is degraded such that it is easily broken and must be repaired frequently.